1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to merchandisers with central heating and control mechanisms and methods for manufacturing such merchandisers. In particular, the invention relates to merchandisers, in which the heating mechanism is positioned to facilitate the reconfiguration of the merchandiser glass front profile and a control mechanism positioned adjacent to the heating mechanism above the merchandiser""s rear access doors. Moreover, the invention relates to methods for and relating to reconfiguring merchandiser glass front profiles.
2. Description of Related Art
Known merchandisers have limited design flexibility. Aesthetic changes are difficult, costly, or impossible in the field and time consuming during production. In particular, known designs generally provide for the front support (nosepiece) to be attached in the first step of assembly. This makes reconfiguring the glass front profile of the merchandise difficult or impossible later in the field.
For example, if a merchandiser is designed as a curved profile unit, it is impossible to change the glass front profile further during the manufacturing process (if a customer order should request a profile change) without disassembling the merchandiser. The later in the manufacturing process, at which a design change is initiated, the more time-consuming the change becomes. Moreover, it is difficult or impossible to make such changes in the field. Thus, generally, if a customer wishes to change the profile of its merchandiser, the customer purchases a new merchandiser because the old merchandiser could not be economically reconfigured. Moreover, the glass initially selected by the customer is prefabricated and permanently fixed in a mounting sub-assembly. If the customer wishes to change the requested profile during manufacture, this sub-assembly could be removed, but would have to be stored until the arrival of another order for that profile.
Known merchandiser designs provide that each unique well configuration (e.g.,CMT-5, left-hand) have its own well. Consequently, there are on average three (3) different wells for each merchandiser size, depending upon its configuration (e.g., self-serve on the left or right, full-serve unit only, and self-serve unit only). This further limits flexibility in merchandiser design and make desirable options, practically unavailable. For instance, the self-serve portion of a combined self-serve/full-service merchandiser was about 635 mm (about 25 inches) wide. A combination merchandiser may not be reversed such that the 635 mm (about 25-inch) wide portion was full-serve and the other end well was self-serve.
Many heated merchandisers use low pressure/low velocity air movement around the displayed food product to achieve adequate holding performance. Higher air circulation rates may maintain the food at the required temperature for a longer period of time, but also may cause a higher rate of evaporation and may dry the product out more quickly. This low pressure/low velocity circulation of air may create a series of problems due to an associated stratification of the air inside the heated portion of the merchandiser. For example, the upper portion of the merchandiser food product cavity may tend to experience high exterior surface temperatures. The problem is currently addressed by the addition of a heat shield or barrier or the application of additional insulation in the affected areas. Electronic components, such as controls and sensors, may be more effective from an ergonomics standpoint if mounted in the upper portion of the food product cavity, but in that position, may be subjected to the high temperature environment. Traditional solutions to this problem have been to accept the ergonomic disadvantage of placing the controls in another location [or to use fans to exhaust the high temperature air in the control areas]. Finally, low volume air circulation may lead to xe2x80x9cfoggingxe2x80x9d of the front glass under certain conditions.
Existing merchandisers with doors on the serving side are problematic for high volume operators during peak service periods. The problems with such merchandiser are due in large part to the need to frequently open and close the doors between serving customers in order to maintain air temperature and humidity within the food product cavity. If the merchandiser is operated as specified, the server may have a difficult time keeping up with demand. In some cases, doors are left in the open position or even removed, but the quality of the food product may diminish rapidly in this open environment. Simply increasing the power supplied to the heating elements may not solve the problem because the energy is not necessarily distributed evenly enough to create a consistent product environment throughout the food product cavity. Further, this attempted solution does not achieve efficient operation of the merchandiser and may create other problems within the merchandiser.
U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/131,467, filed Apr. 28, 1999, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/132,405, filed Apr. 30, 1999, are incorporated herein by reference.
The merchandisers of the present invention have been designed to provide operators with improved flexibility in the configuration of the merchandiser and superior operational performance. It is a technical advantage of this invention, that merchandisers may be supplied to customers from a single, base merchandiser configuration having 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7-well sections in either full or self-serve merchandisers, and 4, 5, 6, or 7-well sections in merchandisers combining full and self-serve sections or groups of sections. The merchandisers, according to this invention, preferably are dimensioned to correspond to the outside dimensions of known merchandisers, i.e., the 3, 5, or 7-well section merchandisers manufactured by Henny Penny Corporation of Eaton, Ohio, and Tyler Refrigeration Corporation of Niles, Mich. In the combination units, virtually any arrangement of full and self-serve wells may be created having two well section increments of either full or self-serve. For example, a 7-well section merchandiser may be fabricated with two self-serve well sections on the left, three full-serve well sections in the center, and two more self-serve well sections on the right.
It is a further technical advantage of this invention that RAYMAX(copyright) emitter strip heating elements, manufactured by Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company, of St. Louis, Mo., have been incorporated into the merchandisers. These heating elements are extremely efficient and are sized and shaped to focus heat over the entire food product.
It is still a further technical advantage of the invention, that the merchandisers may be initially configured or readily reconfigured to include anyone of at least four glass front profiles. Merchandisers may include a curved, extended curve, bowed or flat profile, the first three of which are currently available on merchandisers available from Henny Penny Corporation of Eaton, Ohio. Merchandisers, according to the present invention, may be readily reconfigured either during production in response to a customer order change or at the customer site.
It is another technical advantage of this invention, that the merchandiser is designed for operation with its rear door or doors removed. The directional heating capabilities provided by the use of the emitter strip heating element facilitate such open door operation by allowing food product temperatures to be maintained without significantly adjusting heating element output or changing air circulation patterns within the food product cavity. Further, the rear door or doors of the merchandisers may be mounted on a contoured lower rear door track. This contoured track avoids the deep guide tracks of known rear door merchandiser configurations. Consequently, removal of the rear door or doors is simplified because the rear door is not seated in a deep guide track. Further, cleaning is made more efficient and may be accomplished more thoroughly by the elimination of deep guide tracks which may collect dirt and food scraps.
It is still another technical advantage of this invention that the controls are mounted above the merchandise""s rear door or doors, so that they may be readily accessed and monitored during serving operations. In addition, to the increased efficiency attainable by this placement of the merchandiser controls, the positioning of the controls which permit the operator to stand upright and monitor and adjust the controls while serving from the merchandiser, also may be ergonometrically beneficial.
It is yet another technical advantage of this invention that the merchandiser eliminates or reduces the need for sealing gaskets to limit heat escape from the food product cavity and eliminates or reduces the need for an additional, stainless steel heat shield at the peak of the food product cavity. Elimination or reduction in the size of these components may simplify cleaning of the merchandiser by eliminating or reducing difficult to clean portions, i.e., rubber gaskets, or reducing gap and other areas in which dirt may collect. In addition, elimination of or reduction in the size of these components allows improved visibility of the merchandiser contents.
In an embodiment, the invention is a merchandiser for displaying food products and holding such food products at a controlled temperature. The merchandiser comprises a well divided into a plurality of well sections, wherein each of the well sections receives a serving tray and wherein the serving trays collectively have a center line. A rear access door, a pair of side plates, and a transparent front plate, together with the well, define a food product holding cavity. A pair of supporting brackets position a merchandiser heating and control device above the well. The merchandiser heating and control device comprises a heating compartment, which positions at least one heating element and at least one illuminating element substantially above the center line of the serving trays, wherein the heating compartment includes at least one circulating fan for circulating heated air from the heating compartment into the food product cavity. The merchandiser heating and control device also comprises a retaining bracket for receiving an upper edge of the rear access door and has an enclosed guide surface. Further, the merchandiser heating and control device comprises a control compartment positioned above the retaining bracket and containing control elements for controlling the at least one heating element and the at least one illuminating element and having a rear control panel, wherein the control compartment includes at least one cooling fan for cooling the control elements and a plurality of vents formed in the control panel for drawing cooling air into the control compartment from outside the food product cavity and for exhausting heated air outside the food product cavity. Moreover, the merchandiser heating and control device comprises a securing bracket for mounting an upper edge of the transparent front plate.
In another embodiment of the invention, a merchandiser for displaying food products and holding such food products at a controlled temperature comprises a well comprising a bottom surface, a front wall, and a rear wall, wherein the front wall is formed in opposition to the rear wall. A rear access door, a pair of side plates, and a transparent front plate, together with the well, define a food product holding cavity. A pair of supporting brackets positions a merchandiser heating and control device above the well. The well includes a plurality of pairs of well divider connection points. One of each pair of connection points is opposingly located on the front wall and the rear wall, respectively. At least one well divider for dividing the well into at least two well sections is affixed to a pair of connection points. The well may further include at least one row (and preferably, a plurality of parallel rows) of bottom wall connection points. Each row of the bottom wall connection points is aligned to correspond to a pair of well divider connection points, such that a well divider may be affixed by fasteners (e.g., machine bolts or studs and acorn nuts) to the well side and bottom walls.
In still another embodiment, the invention defines a method of manufacturing a merchandiser. The manufactured merchandiser comprises a well divided into a plurality of well sections, wherein each of the well sections receives a serving tray and wherein the serving trays collectively have a center line. A rear access door, a pair of side plates, and a transparent front plate, together with the well, define a food product cavity. A pair of supporting brackets positions a merchandiser heating and control device above the well. The merchandiser heating and control device includes a pivotable securing bracket for mounting an upper edge of the transparent front plate. The method comprises the steps of selecting a cross-sectional shape of the transparent front plate, selecting a pair of side plates having an edge contour corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the transparent front plate, and selecting a front transparent plate support piece corresponding to the cross-sectional shape of the transparent front plate. The method further comprises the steps of mounting the transparent front plate to the securing bracket; mounting one of the side plates to each of the supporting brackets, such that the edge contour of each of the side plates corresponds to the cross-sectional shape of the transparent front plate; and mounting the front transparent support piece to the merchandiser to receive and support a front edge of the front transparent plate.